Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-07
THE TWO SISTERS"

Twenty-seven years ago this day &C
CURED the mutiny on the ship Two Sis
ters. AL the circumstances were pub
lished At the time, bu: | doubt il Their
are today dozen people In the Unite.
States who can recall them. was on,
Of the crew and participant, and all
now going to give the story Of the crime
and leave the reader to Judge who was I,
blame that the mutiny came about.
The Two Sisters was fair sized ship
carrying from sixteen t. nineteen men
and was owned and sailed from Glasgow
had come around to Glasgow on q
coaster from Liverpool, having no chance
to get ship and being willing to take uE
with anything To earn my way until times
got better. The Two Sisters WAS bound
for Rio Janeiro, and the day got into
Glasgow was her day for sailing. Oddly
enough, common seaman got a fall
which disabled him, and l was showed
into his place, and the ship was of almost
before | could turn my head, and Ger
tainly before was prepared for such a
long voyage. l had been to sea for sew
eral years previous To this shipment, and
had rated as able more than once. but
hhRS SdsS " - 'ottu rs y,
and the pay was to be for such | was
then about % years I'D, a thorough Yam
kee by birth and .elings, and as had
neither parents nor home did not care In
which direction l sailed.
Now, To help you comprehend what
finally happened, want to say that no
sailing ship ever left port with everything
entirely satisfactory to Sailor Jack He
Is chronic grumbler, just rs the farmer
Is, but he means NO more by his grumb-
ling. He will kick on the food. on the
weather, on the cargo. on his quarters, on
almost everything connected with the
ship and her voyage; but it is simply u
fashion, and he doesn't expect any body to
take him in earnest. And l say further
that there is no English. Scotch, German.
or American sailing ship afioat today in
which the captain cares two cents for the
life of foremast hand. The mates are
born bullics, ready to knock a man down
on the slightest provocation. and they will
make the provOcation themselves Jack
may he cut and bruised and i'll, but it is
only when he falls helpless that he is per
mitted to leave his watch. He is not sup
posed to have any more feelings than an
OK. and il would seem as il the aim of
most officers was to make him forget his
manhood. The ditch diggers in any
country live better than the average
sailors. Jacks hours are longer than any
workingman's. his pay is less, and there
isn't day from the time the voyage is be-
gun until it ends that his life is not in
peril And, TO cap the climax, he is a
man to put up with everything. He ex-
poets poor grub, plenty of abuse, q great
deal OF dirty weather, and a close shave
for his life about once in so often. He
will stand more bulldozing than black
slave. and more abuse than an OK Mutiny
Mt sea is a rare occurrence The Ameri-
can marine does no. average one in five
years This isn't because the provoca-
ton is lacking, for that exists on almost
every ship every day. but because Jack is
is willing TO bear TO the last moment be
fore he turns. In my time I have known
sailors to cut their threats. hang them
selves, or leap overheard TO end their
wre,ched lives-made wretched and I'M
bearable by bullying mate. A soldier
would have shot down his officer in such
cases. A slave would have run away
We were not out Of sight Of the coast
before it was found that both mates were
bullies. the captain tyrant, and our
grub the poorest which could be pur-
chased for a ship. The crew were far
above the average in point of looks and
As We were mustered to be
divided into watches l was surprised to
note the fine bearing of the men. 1t was
just such crew as q captain could feel
confidence in during long and perilous
voyage II there was shirk among the
lot, his looks did not betray hun. When
We were divided OF fell TO the captains
watch, which is in reality the second
mates watch, and l found two more
Americans with me-Johnson and Green.
They were able seamen Of middle age.
and there was but one younger man than
in either watch. In the first six hours
Of our being afoat saw four men knocked
down by the mates without provocation
enough to have called out q rebuke from
some officers, while the captain, who was |
evidently q hard drinker, exhibited his |
temper in various ways. 1t is usual for |
the captain of q ship 70 make q little |
speech to the men when the watches are |
divided 1t is done not to encourage, but |
% intimidate. 1t is to further show Jack |
hat he has no moral or legal rights what
.ver, and that if he isn't Drained next
lay WIN n pSias INK pan, ~ ~ pSSadsc MS
,fiicers are willing to overlook and con-
lone his heinous offenses. When our
were called Capt. Mckay stepped
Onward and said:
Il have been looking you over. you
lirty scum of the docks, and / find there
sn't a sailor among you. I wouldn't
,ave shipped such a gang Of sojers fo-
mud scow. You have come aboard under
alse pretenses, calculating TO feast on
pie and cake and have . trip for your
lealth. Look out for me, you id riff
aft. I'll make some Of you wish you
lad never been born before this voyage is
)vern
That was his speech rs one Of the sail
,rs wrote it down, and that was the cue
he mates were TO take. When the of
watch went below the men remarked to
ach other that il looked as if We had
igned articles with a bad man, but there
vas no criticism. When supper was
erved we found the beef outrageous. The
mell Of it WAS sufficient to turn a sailors
and you can imagine that 1t
must have been pretty high. The tea
,ould never have seen the inside Of a
hest. / doubt il II was anything more
nan the leaves Of trees and shrubs. The
hip biscuit had better been called ship
,rubs. There was more worm than bis
uit In each case, and as hungry - Gt
,ere not q man made . pretense OF eat
ng. 1t IS the rule Of every ship that
ack may come aft with his complaint
ie was expected to in this case. The
aptain was on deck when he should have
cen below He looked for kick against
he provisions, and he proposed TO shut
he grumblers right up. After a forecastle
difference il WAS decided to appeal to the
aptain. Not man Of either watch could
ouch the provisions. An oldish man,
Who was a thorough sailor, very intelli-
.ent and the last to find fault, was Sc
ected as spokesman, and he put some OF
re provisions in kid. and We followed
lin to the mainmast. As l told you. it
vas evident the captain and mas.s looked
or q protest. for all were on deck. The
lame Of our spokesman was Herbert, and
le WAS English born. The captain came
onward to meet us as We grouped
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